But Don't Question Their Patriotism: John Murtha and the Haditha Marine Smearers

“Justice 5, Brutality 4" blared the editorial page of the June 13 NY Times. This was their response to the Supreme Court’s decision to give Constitutional rights, for the first time in American history, to detained enemy combatants.

We can safely assume that Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) was pleased with last week’s Supreme Court decision as well. After all, the second the Democrats got back Congress in January 2007, he was already prepared to hold hearings on Gitmo and was threatening to cut off funding for the facility. He even called Gitmo an “eyesore to the country.”

Why would he say that? Because the ideal for the American judicial system is “innocent until proven guilty.” And he surely wouldn’t want presumably innocent people who happened to be traipsing around the battlefield just minding their business to be undeservedly incarcerated by our merciless military, right?

Putting aside all arguments as to whether this judicial concept applies to foreign enemy combatants, what’s so disturbing is that for the Left, it doesn’t apply to everybody. If you are someone they hate, even if you are an American citizen, to whom all Constitutional rights fully apply, then “innocent until proven guilty” goes right out the window.

And so it is with the Marines involved in the so-called “Haditha massacre” in 2006. Before a trial even took place to investigate the actions of eight marines in that Iraqi town, Murtha went on TV to charge and book them for murdering innocent Iragi civilians “in cold blood.” [See blogs like Michelle Malkin and Expose the Left for frequent updates.]

Over the past two years seven of the eight Marines under investigation have been acquitted. Yet John Murtha has yet to apologize for his detestable accusations. In fact, when in September 2007 he was approached by Jeff Gannon of the National Press Club, the following exchange ensued:

GANNON: In May 2006, you said that Marines killed innocent Iraqis citizens in cold blood at Haditha. A year later, some of them have been exonerated. At some point are you going to apologize to these men?

MURTHA: The trial’s not over yet.

GANNON: You’ve spoken out before. You went on national television and called these men “cold blooded killers.”

MURTHA: The trial’s not over yet.

The trial’s not over yet? Then why are you already declaring them guilty, Congressman? Oh sorry, If this isn’t a perfect example of “guilty before proven innocent,” then nothing is.

And while the mainstream press is all giddy over newly created rights for our enemies locked up in Gitmo, they could barely care about the rights of the Haditha marines. For weeks in 2006 their front pages and editorial pages were filled with anti-American screeds about the bloodthirsty murderous marines. Yet news of their acquittals are in the form of barely detectable squibs.

Make no mistake: Our traitorous Left in Congress and the press are ecstatic that foreign enemy combatants are getting “innocent until proven guilty,” but wouldn’t even dream of applying this automatic right to the American marines, whom they hate from the bottom of their cold, cold hearts.

In her weekly article, titled “Defining atrocity: Marines vs. the Haditha Smear Merchants,” Michelle Malkin writes:

Yet another U.S. Marine, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, had charges dropped Tuesday in the so-called Haditha massacre -- bringing the total number of Marines who’ve been cleared or won case dismissals in the Iraq war incident to seven. “Undue command influence” on the prosecution led to the outcome in Chessani’s case. Bottom line: That’s zero for seven for military prosecutors, with one trial left to go.

I repeat: Haditha prosecution goes 0-7. But you won’t see that headline in the same Armageddon-sized font The New York Times used repeatedly when the story first broke.

The Times, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa, and the rest of the anti-war drum-pounders who fueled the smear campaign against the troops two years ago should hang their hands in shame. They won’t, of course. Perpetuating the "cold-blooded Marines" narrative means never having to say you’re sorry.

It means never having to look Lt. Col. Chessani (charges dismissed), Lt. Andrew Grayson (acquitted), Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum (charges dismissed), Capt. Lucas McConnell (charges dismissed), Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt (charges dismissed), Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz (charges dismissed), Sgt. Frank Wuterich (awaiting trial) and their families in the eyes and apologize for the preemptive character assassination they all faced at the hands of the hyperventilating, noose-hanging press.

Murtha and company applied Queen of Hearts (“Off with their heads!”) treatment to our own men and women in uniform while giving more benefit of the doubt to foreign terror suspects at Gitmo. It is worth recalling, because the press won’t do it for you, what they concluded about the now-crumbling Haditha case in the summer of 2006 before a single formal charge had been filed.

More here.

They bitch and moan and beg to give undeserved rights to our enemies, but can’t even apply the same rights to our own military.

But don’t question their patriotism.